🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement and answers to media questions during a news conference following the 7th Russia-GCC Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue

📍 Riyadh, September 9, 2024

💬 Sergey Lavrov: We had a candid, useful and result-oriented discussion. We reviewed the status of implementation of the 2023-2028 Joint Action Plan which was approved at the last meeting of the Strategic Dialogue in Moscow in July 2023.

We discussed prospects for Russia’s cooperation with the countries of the region in the economy, investment, cultural ties and information exchanges.

We focused specifically on the international situation, primarily, the situation in the Middle East, with a focus on the tragedy unfolding in the Palestinian territories, namely, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank of the Jordan River. We share a common stance on the importance of urgently putting an end to violence, settling humanitarian issues and starting serious practical work to implement UN resolutions on creating a Palestinian state that will coexist with Israel in peace and security.

We covered other regional issues, including the Syria settlement, the situation in Yemen, the Red Sea, Libya, and a number of other issues.

☝️ We underscored our appreciation for the balanced position adopted by all GCC countries on the Ukraine crisis. Many of them, including Saudi Arabia, are providing assistance in resolving humanitarian issues not only in the context of what is happening in Ukraine, but in a broader context as well. I’m referring to our relations with the United States and Europe and the recent exchange of prisoners which took place with the direct involvement of the Saudi leaders. <...>

🌐 In addition to the bilateral agenda, we discussed current international issues and reaffirmed our commitment to the objective process of forming a new multipolar world order without hegemons or dictators, where the key principle of the UN Charter - the sovereign equality of all states - will be respected.

Read in full

🎙 Excerpts and key points from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answers to media questions during a news conference following the 7th Russia-GCC Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue (Riyadh, September 9, 2024)

#Ukraine

• We have never taken the “Zelensky formula” seriously and only marvelled that there are still people ready to buy it. Of course, this happens under the West’s pressure.

• But territories are neither here nor there. We just wanted the people, who are an inalienable part of the Russian world and the Russian culture, language, history, and religion, to be treated as human beings as required under international law, numerous conventions on human rights and minority rights, and primarily the UN Charter.

• No success will be achieved unless we get to the root of this problem. In this context, we appreciate the global security initiative announced by PRC President Xi Jinping, which says that it is necessary to start analysing any conflict from its prime causes.

• You should understand that it is not about the meeting location and participants, but about issues to be discussed. Meeting to talk about calls for a ceasefire and then territorial exchanges simply doesn’t cut it. Once again, the problem is not about territories but people’s rights.

As soon as we see the determination to protect human rights, a policy that the West always boasts about when addressing any issue (except this particular one), I am confident we will easily agree on the location and time of the meeting. But first we need to understand what exactly we are going to discuss.

#GEP

• At today’s meeting with the Gulf Cooperation Council, we discussed this Eurasia-based organisation’s promising potential for promoting the continent-wide processes and contributing to what President Vladimir Putin referred to as the Greater Eurasian Partnership.

• We want the nations of the Eurasian continent – the largest, fastest-growing, and most resource-rich part of the world – to decide their fate on their own.

#MiddleEast

• Washington wants to preserve its monopoly over any processes in the Middle East. We know many cases when this position has resulted in failure. Today’s discussion with our colleagues from the Persian Gulf’s Arab countries has fully confirmed us in this belief.

• An immediate ceasefire is necessary. Meanwhile, it is important to remember that the problem stems from the fact that the Palestinian state issue has not been resolved for almost 80 years.

#BRICS

• BRICS has doubled its membership from five to ten. It has already received more than 30 applications requesting either membership or special relations. This process is the main driving force behind the formation of a multipolar world order.

• BRICS is following an upward trajectory in its development, and this trend will only grow stronger. The Russian BRICS Chairmanship is greatly contributing to this.

Read in full

#Announcement

⚡️ Registration of representatives of the media and blogosphere for the BRICS Summit is open (Kazan, October 22-24).

In order to be accredited you need to complete a registration application on the official website of the Summit.

🪪 Media and blogosphere representatives are given accreditation badges provided their registration applications are approved by the Summit Organising Committee.

Accreditation badges are issued at accreditation stations. Information about the location and work schedule of the accreditation stations is available on the event’s official website.

Applications without a covering letter will not be considered.

👉 Find out more about the media accreditation for the BRICS Summit

📄 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s greetings to the organisers and participants in the International Anti-Fascist Forum 2024 (September 11, 2024)

✍️ I warmly welcome the organisers and participants in the 10th International Anti-Fascist Forum, which is timed to coincide with the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Fascism.

This year, we look back on a landmark period in our country’s glorious military history – 80 years ago, Soviet forces began to liberate Europe from Nazism, thereby bringing the Great Victory closer.

Today, Russia again has to rise in arms against the revival of that misanthropic ideology – to carry out the special military operation to protect its people from Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Our purpose is to work together to counter the propaganda of Russophobia, the rise of radical nationalist forces, the desecration and destruction of monuments to Red Army soldiers, and attempts to distort the role played by the Soviet liberator soldiers.

I am confident that this forum, themed Remembering the Past – Thinking about the Future, will make a significant contribution to preserving the historical truth, fighting xenophobia and ethnic and religious intolerance.

🤝 I wish you rewarding work and all the very best.

🚩🚩ВНИМАНИЕ

🇷🇺 Открыта регистрация на XII Международный спортивный Форум "Россия - спортивная держава"
Он пройдёт 17-19 октября в Уфе.

❗Ссылка на регистрацию: www.sportforumrussia.ru/registraciya/#/

Приглашаем принять участие в крупнейшем деловом событии спортивной жизни!

Форум включает:

☑️пленарное заседание
☑️деловую
☑️выставочную
☑️протокольную
☑️культурную
☑️спортивную
☑️зрелищную программы.

Все дни Форума будет работать выставка «Современный спорт. Инновации и перспективы»
(MSIP).

Полная информация на сайте www.sportforumrussia.ru

#россияспортивнаядержава

🇷🇺 Registration is open for the XII International Sports Forum "Russia - a Sports Power" which will be held in Ufa, Russia, October 17-19.

❗Registration link: www.sportforumrussia.ru/registraciya/#/

We invite you to take part in the largest business event in sports life!

The Forum includes:

☑️plenary session
☑️business
☑️exhibition
☑️protocol
☑️cultural
☑️sports
☑️spectacle programs.

The exhibition "Modern Sports. Innovations and Prospects" (MSIP) will be open all days of the Forum.

Full information on the website www.sportforumrussia.ru

#russiasportpower

🎙 President of Russia Vladimir Putin held a meeting with high-ranking representatives of #BRICS states responsible for security matters.

📍 Saint Petersburg, September 12, 2024

💬 President Putin: I am delighted to welcome you all to Saint Petersburg. Thank you for being here in Russia’s northern capital. In this regard, I would like to remind you that the BRICS association was established right here, in this very building in St. Petersburg.

At that time, the leaders of three states – India, Russia and China – agreed during a meeting to hold regular meetings at the top level, as well as other events. This is how the RIC (Russia, India and China) association was born and began to grow, and today, I have the privilege and pleasure to welcome the participants in the meeting of BRICS high-ranking officials for security matters.

I know that yesterday, you had a lively and productive discussion on the most relevant aspects of the global situation, on global and regional stability concerns.

This is the fourteenth meeting held by BRICS in this format. However, this time it saw the participation of delegations from the states that joined our association as full-fledged members on January 1.

Moreover, a meeting was held with our colleagues from the countries that are not yet part of BRICS but have shown a sincere interest in working more closely with our association. This was done at Russia’s initiative, and we appreciate your support.

I want to emphasise that the meeting of high-ranking representatives is a crucial step in preparing for the BRICS summit and BRICS Plus/Outreach, scheduled to take place in Kazan, Russia, on October 22–24. <...>

As the current BRICS chair, this year Russia has taken a highly responsible approach to organising joint activities within the association.

Our chairmanship has been assigned a crucial task: to facilitate the swift and seamless integration of new member countries into all BRICS mechanisms. Additionally, we have addressed the increasing interest in BRICS from numerous states.

☝️ Currently, over 34 countries have expressed their desire to participate in the activities of our association in some capacity.

<...>

I want to highlight that the programme of the Russian presidency is both extensive and varied. It encompasses over 200 events designed to enhance partnership across all key areas. <...> To date, more than 70 percent of the chairmanship plan has been completed.

Read in full

#BRICS2024

🎙 President of Russia Vladimir Putin's answer to a media question

❓ Question: Over the past few days, we have been hearing statements at a very high level in the UK and the United States that the Kiev regime will be allowed to strike targets deep inside Russia using Western long-range weapons. Apparently, this decision is either about to be made, or has already been made, as far as we can see. This is actually quite extraordinary. Could you comment on what is going on?

💬 President Putin: What we are seeing is an attempt to substitute notions. Because this is not a question of whether the Kiev regime is allowed or not allowed to strike targets on Russian territory. It is already carrying out strikes using unmanned aerial vehicles and other means. But using Western-made long-range precision weapons is a completely different story.

The fact is that – I have mentioned this, and any expert, both in our country and in the West, will confirm this – the Ukrainian army is not capable of using cutting-edge high-precision long-range systems supplied by the West. They cannot do that. These weapons are impossible to employ without intelligence data from satellites which Ukraine does not have. This can only be done using the European Union’s satellites, or US satellites – in general, NATO satellites. This is the first point.

The second point – perhaps the most important, the key point even – is that only NATO military personnel can assign flight missions to these missile systems. Ukrainian servicemen cannot do this.

❗️ Therefore, it is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is about deciding whether NATO countries become directly involved in the military conflict or not.

If this decision is made, it will mean nothing short of direct involvement – it will mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries are parties to the war in Ukraine. This will mean their direct involvement in the conflict, and it will clearly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict dramatically.

⚠️ This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the ambassadorial roundtable discussion of Ukraine crisis settlement (Moscow, September 12, 2024)

Key talking points

• The offensive weapons used for such terrorist attacks have been supplied by the West. When sending these weapons, the West says that the Kiev regime can use them as it sees fit, and that these weapons cease to be Western as soon as they cross the border and are accepted by the Ukrainian army.

• There is no doubt whatsoever that the decision to lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons on targets inside Russia was taken long ago, and now they are only trying to find the most suitable, acceptable and elegant way of presenting it to the public.

• In addition to providing increasingly long-range weapons, NATO also supplies Kiev with data from its military space intelligence. This intelligence is used to locate and strike targets deep within Russian territory, including residential buildings, life-support facilities, energy and industrial infrastructure, and social facilities such as schools, kindergartens, and clinics.

• Western military specialists are literally coordinating the strikes on civilian targets in real time, using high-precision weapons. The planning and programming of flight missions are carried out by instructors and representatives from NATO countries that supply these weapons to Kiev. Our experts are confident that without such specialist involvement, it would be impossible to use these complex systems. These tasks can only be performed by professionals who have worked with these systems for a long time and know how to operate them.

• Ukrainian special services, with the help of their Western patrons, are simultaneously actively involving radical Islamists in terrorist activities. We would like to thank everyone present here for their condolences in connection with the March 22, 2024 terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall concert facility, which claimed the lives of 145 people. The ongoing investigation has already uncovered evidence that the main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry was involved in preparing the attack. Specifically, the escape routes for the perpetrators through the Russian-Ukrainian border were meticulously mapped out. This is not the only time when Ukrainian special services enlisted radical Islamists in the preparation and execution of terrorist attacks.

• We have recently received information that “emissaries” from the Ukrainian intelligence service are present in the Idlib de-escalation zone within the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic. They are recruiting local militants from Jabhat Al-Nusra, now known as Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, with the intention of involving them in nefarious operations.

• Nuclear terrorism has become Ukraine’s chief trademark. You certainly must be following the reports about attacks and attempted attacks at the Leningrad, Kalinin, Kursk and Zaporozhye nuclear power plants. The Zaporozhye plant was on the verge of disaster on August 11 of this year, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired at it, igniting one of the two cooling towers. The fire seriously damaged the facility. This is a grave situation.

• Tensions are riding high in the area adjoining the Kursk nuclear power plant. During his August 27 visit to the facility, #IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi saw for himself the traces of Ukrainian criminal drone assaults. Yet, Kiev does not conceal that the Kursk nuclear power plant was a target of their deliberate attacks.

• The Kiev regime continues to terrorise its own citizens as well. On August 20 of this year, they approved a bill that actually outlaws (with several months delay) the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

📄 Read in full